Here are some thoughts from Francesca, President of Hanuman ETS
“In over twenty years of missions in Nepal, I have been able to witness and experience the great changes that have taken place in the territory, often hostile, and in its people, always hospitable and generous.
People who have little, but who share a lot.
I will not dwell now on the individual emotions, too many and too varied, to fit into a short narrative.
Rather, I want to compliment the new participants, because they have been able to grasp the meaning and the ultimate purpose of their commitment, despite not having specific previous experiences.
I like to think that the creation of Nepal Volunteer, with AnM, can give birth to a virtuous way of traveling with sustainability and can give impetus to paths perhaps already seen, but relived with a more participatory and intimate approach.
My part, in growing with Hanuman, remains the desire to continue to be there, with renewed energy and enthusiasm, stolen in part from the new participants, who are amazed by looks, smiles or extraordinary gestures and true, in my eyes now pleasantly familiar.
My personal commitment also remains not to bind myself with greater affection to the individual boy or girl, because more defenseless or more needy or even just because smaller or nicer, but to remain attentive to help those who really need to find an optimal growth solution and never certain or obvious and to ensure that the overall climate in Happy Home is the magical one of a large family, the one it has always been, since its creation.”
We at Hanuman have been infected and amazed by this first group of volunteers, to whom we offer our heartfelt compliments.
A big hug to everyone, also extended to AnM, who believed in us.
Namastè.
Nepal Volunteer March May June 2023
Some participants of the first departures of the new travel formula Nepal Volunteer with AnM felt the need to write some thoughts, full of emotions, as a testimony of their experience in Happy Home.
We at Hanuman have been infected and amazed by these groups of volunteers, to whom we offer our heartfelt compliments.
A big hug to everyone, also extended to AnM, who believed in us.
Anna
“The experience I lived brings to mind words or rather values such as: kindness, empathy, care, cooperation, humility, sensitivity, lucidity, compassion, presence, listening, silence, love, joy and many questions about myself and the world and the way I live. Realities like Hanuman make it easier for us to hope and try to build a more equitable and balanced world. Being able to give a present, a future, a safe place and a lot of LIFE must be considered a privilege. Nothing more.
Concepts such as education and home in our privileged and spoiled reality are almost taken for granted and therefore their fundamental importance in the growth and evolution of a human being is not recognized. A phrase by Mololo Yuosafzai, written on the wall of a school I visited, made me reflect on this concept: One child, one teacher, one pen and one book, can change the world.
I consider it our duty to be grateful for being born in the right part of the world and for being in the position to be able to help and not ask help.
I echo the words of a friend of this adventure: “I feel like I arrived late”.
It was a real privilege for me to be part, even if for a moment too short, of the Hanuman family, full of smiles and desire for the future.
With deep gratitude”.
Alessia
“We are flying and outside the porthole there is a magical panorama, magical like the experience that we have lived together in these days and I feel the need to thank you, Francesca and Irene for allowing me to taste a small part of everything that with effort and passion you have built in these years. You have done so much for us volunteers, giving us the opportunity to see with our own eyes, what it means to take care of others, respecting their identity, but above all you have done so much for all the kids of happy home, giving them not only the opportunity to hope for a better future but also the tools to take it, teaching them method and discipline. Thanks to you they are learning to earn a place in the world with commitment and solidarity among themselves. All this goes beyond raising money to support them in life and in their studies and in giving them a place to live, because in happy home you have created a community, a family in which the older ones help the younger ones and all together support each other.
In a world in which it is easier to give than to teach others to be autonomous, you have chosen the difficult path, giving these kids the tools to build their own future, you have done and continue to do the dirty work of a real parent to raise autonomous and responsible individuals and I am sure that they will never forget your teachings. Thank you for everything”
Tiziana
“If we think that it is not a journey, I define it as one of the most exciting journeys I have ever experienced, because even though I remained still in a house with children, in the end, every day, I faced my journey with them, around them, around their day. I want to leave you a photo: getting up early in the morning and finding 20 children around a table studying and one says - it's not possible! - in reality it is exactly like that, they have understood what their place in the world is. I owe a lot to Hanuman, because what is left in my belly? I felt from the first day that I was late”.
Simone
I look out the window and think, I think about how strange life is, I think about all the series of circumstances that led me to meet Vitaliano, Francesca and Irene.
Because then, let's face it Simo, if you are now sitting here on this bus it is also thanks to them who managed to involve you to the point of convincing you to leave.
I smile and repeat softly: Sakal, Buddhi, Daniel, Himala, Sushila and so on name after name. They are the names of the boys and girls who live in Happy Home, this wonderful structure located in the village of Benighat. They are names that I will hardly forget now, because with their spontaneity, sweetness and education they managed to enter the hearts of all of us participants.
It is not easy to explain in words the succession of emotions that accompanied me during our days in Happy Home; perhaps certain experiences should only be lived and kept as a precious asset.
Because a certainty accompanies me, that of having received in return much more than I could have ever given. Saying goodbye was not easy, on the contrary.
Becoming fond of each other instead was inevitable even if not so obvious.
We prepare the backpacks, we hug while a few tears fall, the last photos and it is time to get back on the bus, our heads still resting on the same window
The tears now turn into crying …
Sakal, Buddhi, Janak, Daniel, Ganesh, Himala, Sushila etc. etc. now the names are no longer so confusing, they have a beautiful face and smile …”
Gioia
Eight volunteers from Italy who meet for the first time in Kathmandu. Departure with the legendary minibus. Direction Happy Home, Benighat. Huge and uncontrollable emotion, as well as the desire to meet the guys from HH. Endless journey, road full of potholes, fear of head-on collisions... in reality our super driver had everything under control. I would never have thought that that type of journey would soon become normal. We finally arrive at our destination. Our heartbeats accelerate.
Our eyes fill with tears even before getting off the minibus. The gate opens and we begin to see two rows of children, carefully positioned in increasing height. I see smiles, curiosity and a bit of hesitation on the faces of the guys. Typical Nepalese welcome. They give us flower necklaces, and then flowers and more flowers. Tears are wasted. A moment of confusion. A feeling of total inadequacy. Time to occupy the dormitory and we find the famous Dhal Bath of Didi waiting for us. Although everything is easier with a full stomach, in reality emotions are not held back, on the contrary. Anxiety.
We begin to understand how the family home built and managed by Hanuman ETS works. It is not possible. Here the kids do everything by themselves. How is it possible? In Italy something like this would not even be conceivable. And instead there they are. Super obedient to the rules, happy. Aware. This was the first adjective that came to mind when thinking of the kids of HH. It was already clear that these kids only had to teach.
I have never met anyone who was as clear about the word "responsibility" as they are. Everyone collaborates. They are autonomous. They know. They know why they are there and they know what they have to do to make this "ecosystem" work. They know what to do for their future. Aware.
In the afternoon the first visit to the schools starts. And what do we have to do? And what do I make all these children do? And what should I tell them? Where should we go? They're all looking at us! They're all going crazy! The smiles and curiosity of the kids towards us immediately gave meaning to that visit. Tossed around here and there. Everyone wanted to show us their class, their classmates, their drawings, their best friend. Just like that. As if they had known us all their lives and were asking for our approval. It would have taken much less to get it. We return to HH. Despite the enormous distance from our realities and the little time spent in HH, the arrival was already like coming home after a day of work. Incredible. Thus begins the first chats with the older ones to get to know each other. It all comes so naturally. The first bonds are starting to form. Already strong. A bit like the friendships at the seaside of our childhood. It's already evening. Time for a dance. Macarena. Universal language. It's time to go to bed. I think about the incredible and surreal day. I can't fix a thought. I already feel guilty for not having learned even one of the boys' names. The night spent wondering what we can give to these boys. Will we be up to it? And so the adventure begins.
Easier every day.
Morning. Visits to local schools supported by Hanuman. Here we had the opportunity to spend time with the boys from the schools, some almost unreachable. Some super modern, others super modest. But the children always welcomed us with huge smiles and a desire to share. The delivery of notebooks and pencils was a unique experience. It seems trivial, but seeing the grateful eyes of the children who politely remain in their places waiting for their moment is incredible.
Afternoon activities with the boys in HH. Activities of all kinds. Improvised. How is it possible that these boys know how to do everything? And if they don't know how to do it by learning in two seconds and they know how to do it better than you. What a pleasant frustration!
And at night the mind starts again. Same questions in the head. New thoughts begin on the Hanuman association, on how it is supporting the territory. What it has done. What it is committed to doing. From the story it seems that every day has been the same as the previous one. It was not at all. Every day the bond with the kids has become stronger and stronger. HH becomes a family for the volunteers too. Right away. And even in the routine you don't get used to seeing kids who wake up very early in the morning to start studying. To appreciate their maturity. To see that despite everything they are kids. Aware but kids. We had the opportunity to witness 5 new entries into HH and to experience first-hand what this structure means for the kids. A protected environment where every child feels at home immediately. Where everyone becomes new brothers who take care of you. Like this. Easily. Immediately. Incredibly. 3 weeks after returning I realize that I still haven't been able to describe what I felt. To tell a lot.
Maybe I'm so jealous of the unique emotions I've experienced that I don't want to share them. That sweet and bitter taste that stays in your mouth... for days... weeks... who knows, maybe months. I feel happy to have had the chance to get to know this reality and especially the kids, but at the same time I feel an incredible nostalgia to the point of shedding at least one tear every day. And the thought remains if we have given enough compared to what we have received in this experience.
And the head goes... thinks about when to go home... go back to HH.
Eugenia
Dear Vitaliano
It's been a week since I returned here to Rome and perhaps only today I find the way to express at least some of the emotions that totally pervaded me during the incredible experience I lived in Happy Home.
First of all, however, I would like to thank you, all the founders of Hanuman and the staff of AnM for giving us the opportunity to know and participate in this reality, which I immediately tried to join even though I was aware of not having any particular experience with children... I was the only one in the group who did not have a particular project to bring, nor something specific to teach and as you well know this aspect also created a bit of fear in me initially.
Yet, as soon as I arrived, I clearly felt that I was in the right place where I could be at that moment in my life, everything made sense, and perhaps the thing that will remain with me the most was the empathy that I immediately felt, the naturalness with which 10 days of living together followed one another, in almost 40 people, in a single house, as if we were one big family and as if we had really been there for a very long time.
The ease of sharing, the joy and affection that immediately invaded us made everything extremely simple and natural, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
The feeling that pervades me most today is that of having returned enriched, because I believe I have received much more than I was able to give and perhaps also for this reason the separation was really difficult...
But I know that I will return, and this thought gives me joy, and I know that you will keep us informed of each of them and I also know that this was only the beginning of a wonderful new adventure
I am very happy to have become part of this great family, a hug.
Silvia
Today we accompanied “our kids” to school.
You should have seen with what pride they introduced us to their classmates and teachers, their desks ... etc etc.
Like family members we greeted them before leaving them for school and before we were out of school they came out of the various classes just for a hug or a hello.
We told them that we will be back at 4 to pick them up from school. I feel the intimate warmth of family.
They sang for us full of pride because we were there to watch them, there in their world, among their classmates.
I watched them from the top of the terrace and every time I met the gaze of one of them I was moved. They smiled and looked back.
Now I know those faces a little and I have experience of their way of interacting, of doing, of playing, of creating, of laughing, of being.
For now We are their friends / family / constant presences of these days ...
I was very moved (even if I must not be seen crying, something they never allow themselves to do) seeing their proud faces full of vital dignity.
They are fine here in Nepal, as long as they are in this happy home, they are protected.
Life outside will be very hard for them, but I am sure that they will be ready, very strong, amazingly capable of learning and living in any condition.
Present to themselves like wise old men.
I will have difficulty going back to hide from their sight, it will be very hard not to continue to see them grow, returning to the West.
In 2 days I will say goodbye to them, perhaps forever, but they will remain people whose next steps in life I want to know.
People who have taught me to live like great masters, with their presence and example.
I send a hug to all those who have allowed me to take this journey, giving me confidence, in myself and in the opportunities that life reveals to me step by step.
Luisanna
A month has passed since I returned to Italy and, I can say, there hasn't been a day that I haven't thought about Nepal.
Only a few days ago, in my night dreams, I stopped superimposing the memories in Happy Home on the recovered daily life.
It is not easy to translate into words the kaleidoscope of emotions that I experienced during my stay, and that I am still experiencing, but, certainly, the feeling that I had before leaving has come true: any desire to be helpful has shattered in front of the personal and human enrichment that, on the contrary, I have received; and I have received so much: the spontaneity of the kids, the crystalline nature of the feelings, the joy of life...
I hope that it is an exchange, at least in part, reciprocal, that the kids have also benefited from our stay, but, how can you compensate for the first smile received from Sabina, after two days of deep discomfort? or the contact with Aroshi's little hand on the way to school? or the gifts of Ganesh, Shree Ram and Nisha, made with their hands? or the delicacy and care of Sharmila and Sushila in dedicating themselves to us with their hair styles or with the works of art on our skin? I don't think it's possible, it's not possible to compensate for the affectionate look and the sweet smile that they all reserved for us, but, I hope, in any case, that something positive has also come from us volunteers.
Obviously, as I write to you I can't help but be moved.
Your commitment is admirable, the product of your efforts; your example is a source of hope for a better world.
I would like to try to give a little help with remote support.
I thank you for having contributed to making me receive this gift.
A hug
Gianluca
Last night I went for a run and I met a child who was exactly the same as Avaya…my run ended there.
I turned around and went home shocked by the memories, tormented by the desire to get on the first plane and go back to play with all of them.
Nepal is a crazy land but their inhabitants are even more shocking; the more I think about it, at home with air conditioning and a sofa, the more I realize that those ten days were priceless.
It's been almost a month since we returned but I still can't get used to all this normality, I still can't understand how there can be such different worlds, how our everyday life can proceed regardless of everything that happens alongside us.
Hanuman is a wonderful association.
Vassallo, mayor of Pollica killed by the mafia, used to say that to improve things you have to get your hands dirty: Hanuman gets his hands dirty and takes charge.
I can only thank you because you take care of what is most precious every day.
I don't know when but we'll be back; I can't afford to forget their smile.